Be Strong
by 2ilyrose
Summary: It's Hermione's 7th year at Hogwarts, a time to learn, live and have fun, then she receives a letter that will change everything. rated for future chapters.


A/N: Alright this story takes place in Hermione's 7th year at Hogwarts. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately...I do not own any part of the Harry Potter world, although I do visit occasionally.

o O o

Hermione was sitting in Advanced Ancient Runes when an owl came soaring into the classroom and landed on professor Babbling's desk. Professor Babbling, while reading the parcel it carried quietly, furrowed her brows with grief. Then proceeded to motion for Hermione to come up to the desk.

"Is there a problem professor?" Hermione asked.

Babbling set the note in front of her and replied, "There's been a," She paused, searching for the right word, "_accident_."

Hermione looked confused, "What do you mean, '_accident_'"

"I'm sorry, I'm not the one to divulge this to you. Professor Dumbeldore will see you in his office now."

"But Professor-"

"Ms. Granger please do as you are told."

Hermione sighed, "Yes, professor." She turned on her heal and collected her books before heading out into the empty corridor.

o O o

As Hermione ambled through the long corridors, she realized she had never had to leave a classroom right in the middle of a lesson. She then knew, whatever this 'accident' was, it wasn't going to be good at all. And she wasn't sure she wanted to find out what it was. She almost wanted to just turn and run back down to AAR and pretend that nothing had happened and everything would be fine. But everything wasn't fine. And she knew that.

o O o

When Hermione reached Dumbledore's office, she took a breath to calm her nerves a bit, it didn't really help all that much. She then knocked on the large wooden door and waited.

The door slowly creaked open to reveal Professor Dumbledore sitting at his desk looking very dismal indeed. Professors McGonagall and Snape were also standing at his side, which didn't promote for anything good.

Dumbledore motioned for her to come in. She sat in one of the large conference chairs in front of his desk. She looked nervously back and forth from McGonagall to Snape then to Dumbledore. It was then that Hermione saw the envelope in Dumbledore's hands.

Dumbledore took a breath and cleared his throat, then proceeded to speak, "Ms. Granger, this may come as a bit of a shock, there has been an incident."

Hermione swallowed, "What kind of incident, Professor?"

"I am afraid I have a bit of bad news." She braced herself as he continued, "It's your parents."

"What do you mean? W-what happened? They're alright aren't they?"

Dumbledore shook his head slowly, "No, I'm afraid," he paused, then continued for lack of better words, "they have been killed."

Her hands flew instinctively to cover her mouth, she looked down as she felt her eyes begin to brim with tears. She took a breath and a moment to try to steady herself, "How, h-how did it happen?"

Dumbledore looked into her tear-streaked face and replied quietly, "Voldemort."

Hermione's tears started again but she wiped them away. Dumbledore then placed the envelope he had been holding on the desk in front of her. "This was found in your parents' will, it is addressed to you."

She reached out to receive the envelope and opened it, she pulled out a letter, it read:

_Our Dearest Hermione,_

_If you are reading this, then we are no longer with you. Before we tell you this, we want you to know that we love you very much and we always will. There is something that you should know about us, we've never told you before because we wanted to keep you safe, but the truth is; We are not your real parents. We adopted you when you were a baby, your birth parents were young and weren't ready for a child of their own, so they put you up for adoption. And there is something else you should know as well, your parents were pure-bloods, as are you. Again, we love you very much, with all our hearts, and you will always be our daughter._

_Your Loving Parents_

Hermione finished the letter in tears, she brought her hand up to her forehead and sighed.

"Are you alright Ms. Granger?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

Hermione replied, "No, yeah, I mean, it-it's just a lot to comprehend." She looked up at the ceiling, trying to force the tears to recede.

McGonagall then stepped forward, "If you would like, Ms. Granger, you are excused from the rest of your lessons this evening, and you may go to your dormitory or spend the remainder of the day as you please."

"Thank you." Hermione was then dismissed, she left the office holding the letter, and proceeded to the library.

o O o

A/N: Well that's it for the first chapter, please review, I live on your reviews, they're what keep me writing! Enchantress-dcm


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